HTC U12+ is the company's next flagship, will launch in May

For some time we've been referring to HTC's next flagship as the U12, but following a post by the ever-reliable Evan Blass of Venture Beat, it may be called the U12+ instead. Moreover, Blass's post is backed up by an image that claims to reveal exactly what it will look like.

The HTC flagship that we've been referring to as the U12 has consistently had the the codename 'Imagine', but Blass cites a "person familiar with HTC's plans" as saying the Imagine will be released under the branding of U12+.

An HTC U12+ would certainly make sense, since the company released the U11+ as an upgraded version of the U11 towards the end of 2017. We also don't expect HTC to have the resources to release two flagships this year, so will be wanting to focus all its efforts on a single device instead.

Venture Beat

The picture accompanying Blass's post shows a device with a 6-inch WQHD+ display with virtually non-existent bezels on every edge, showing that HTC is sticking close to the design of the majority of other flagship phones due out this year. It looks a fair bit different to the unnamed phone spotted at Taiwanese 5G event.

On the front, we can see two cameras, which are both claimed to be 8-megapixel. Up until now we've only heard HTC's flagship would have a single-lens front camera, but considering the HTC U11 EYEs has a dual-lens front camera instead, it's fair to assume HTC will carry the technology across. There will be a dual-lens camera on the back too, comprising 16- and 12-megapixel lenses.

Elsewhere the HTC U12+ will get the very latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, 6GB of RAM and either 64GB or 128GB of expandable storage, along with a 3,420mAh battery.

HTC will also allegedly introduce the second generation of its Edge Sense technology that lets you squeeze the sides of the phone to operate various functions or open apps. Blass's sources have said that a slight hiccup in production has pushed the launch date back a few weeks, from late April to early May.